The FAR Council recently published a final rule dealing with small business certification issues, effective on January 17, 2025. This final rule came about to ensure that certain parts of the FAR and SBA rules are consistent.

The change: Adding additional circumstances that require an awardee to represent its size and/or socioeconomic status for orders placed under a multiple-award contract (MAC) per FAR 52.219-28(c)Post award Small Business Program Re-representation.

On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued the Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity Executive Order (the “EO”), which revokes Executive Order 11246, a 60-year-old Civil Rights-era directive that prohibited federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, and required federal contractors to take affirmative action to provide equal opportunity in employment.

 Today, Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 34 million small businesses, is celebrating the culmination of the SBA’s efforts to transform customers’ experiences with the agency through its new MySBA digital platform. After making improvements to MySBA Loans, MySBA Certifications, and MySBA Learning, the SBA now is moving toward a single sign-on MySBA platform that will deliver a seamless experience for users.

Action Required: DoD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to issue policy on small business participation on certain multiple-award contracts. Interested parties should submit written comments to the Regulatory Secretariat Division at the address shown below on or before March 17, 2025, to be considered in the formation of the final rule.

Small business owners interested in contracting with the Defense Logistics Agency can now use a new search function on DLA’s Small Business webpage to get contact information for the supply chain that manages the items or services they provide.

The new tool is the first iteration of a more extensive Supplier Pathway program intended to help new entrants navigate government contracting processes and learn the nuances of working with DLA.

Effective Jan. 16, 2025, the United States Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Final Rule will significantly impact mergers & acquisitions involving small business government contractors and investors in the government contracting industry. A September 2024 GT Alert summarizes important aspects of the SBA’s Proposed Rule and discusses key changes that might impact small business government contractors. The Final Rule echoes much of the Proposed Rule’s language and will affect the landscape for small business contractors and investors in the federal government contracting industry.